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Am Fam Physician. 2010;81(1):15

Author disclosure: Nothing to disclose.

Original Article: Musculoskeletal Injections: A Review of the Evidence

Issue Date: October 15, 2008

to the editor: I very much enjoyed your article on musculoskeletal injections. I teach residents in my program the skills you describe in your article because I believe any family physician with proper training can perform these procedures. I would like to add two of my own pearls of wisdom. First, it is helpful to have an injection kit on hand. I use a fishing tackle box, bought for less than $20 at a local sporting goods store, to store alcohol pads, adhesive bandages, gauze pads, needles, syringes, iodine-povidone (Betadine) swabs, steroid vials, and lidocaine vials. When I need to do an injection, all I have to do is grab the kit and I have everything I need in one place. Second, I always keep 3.5-inch spinal needles on hand in the event I have to do a trochanteric bursa injection on an obese patient. Quite often, a 1.5-inch needle will not suffice, and a spinal needle is needed to reach the bursa.

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This series is coordinated by Kenny Lin, MD, MPH, deputy editor.

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